Flores of course is the Portuguese word for flowers!

See what we mean?
 

 



 Yes, this is a 1500 foot cliff, not with a beach but with fields at its foot.

 

 Wild pansies and note the trees on the top of the rock.

 

 Wind shaped tree canopies shelter the flowers.

 

 

 John's favorite picture!

The near cliff is actually concave.

 

 

 These must be the happiest cows in Europe:  Their pasture is so lush, they can graze with their tummies on the ground!

 

 

 Looking south towards Santa Cruz.

 

 

These flowers have three foot stems, yet they are a thousand feet off the ground!

 

 

 The northeast coastline is dramatically surreal.

 

 

 Yes, that is the Atlantic Ocean shimmering in the background.  Magical!

 

 

The green cliffs of Flores:  sheer striking nature.

 

 

Is this donkey fertilizing potatoes?

 

 

 The island of Corvo lies just north of Flores.

 

 

 Wild hydrangeas grow as complete hedges.  The village in the background is Punta Delgada.

 

 

 John says this could be Devon or Cornwall, except for the orange roofs and the sunshine!

 

 

Lunch at the country inn, Por do Sol, at Fajazinha.  Sr. Curvelo served us a wonderful traditional Portuguese meal.

 

 

 A large black bull guards his kingdom.

 

 

 Volcanic beach.

 

 

 Bob finds a cattle trough reserved for Canadians.

 

 

Waterfalls are seen through the mist.

 

 

Volcanic crater lakes adorn the center of the island.

Bermuda to the Azores

The Captain and the Admiral have a hug prior to leaving Bermuda

 

Skipper at the helm on a chilly, damp day.

 

Dave equipped for the ocean

 

 

Dawn on a broad reach on the Atlantic

 

Bob and John

 

 

Kazoo serenade on Bob's birthday

 

Oops! Bob's special birthday outfit!

 

Birthday boy!

 

Froggy stowaway?

 

Berthed in Lajes, Ilha das Flores, Azores

 

The Admiral inspects the fleet.

(Adventuress in the background)

 

Porto das Lajes, Ilha das Flores

Thursday May 29  17.15 local time (GMT)  39.22.767N 31.10.155W  At dock.

 

It was dark when we arrived, but the entry into the anchorage here is wide open and there was plenty of light from the street lamps of Lajes to see the other boats in the anchorage: none! We dropped the anchor in 34 feet of calm protected water, let out 175 feet of chain, and opened the champagne.

 

With light following winds we had motor-sailed the last 112nm. This added 15.5 hours to our engine time, making a total of 31.5 hours motoring. Our passage was fast: we dropped anchor exactly 11 days and 7 hours after leaving the fuel dock in St George's harbour, Bermuda. We travelled 1,795nm for an average speed of 6.6kts, and we still had over half left of our 250 gallons of water. We saw lots of dolphins in the second half of our trip, and we enjoyed winds behind the beam for most of the passage.

 

Now we are berthed along a floating pontoon in the inner harbour's new marina, and we are on vacation! We will stay in Flores for a few days before sailing 130nm to Horta on the island of Faial, one of the five islands that make up the central group of the Azores islands.

 

John and Nancy, with Bob and Dave

 

 

Sneaky Squall

Wed May 28 1200 GMT 3914N 3255W Wind SW 8 Cloudy Motor sailing 085T at 7.5kts

Approaching landfall is at once exciting and slightly disappointing. First, we are looking forward to the Portuguese culture in Flores, to a good dinner with local fish, vegetables, wine and cheese; and to the people of these distant islands, who are reputed to be both friendly and civil to us yachties. On the other hand, this passage is over and it has been almost all fun. The good thing about this passage is that we still have the third leg up to Falmouth to anticipate and plan.

This morning just before dawn we were hit with a sneaky squall that looked innocuous enough on the radar screen, until just before it arrived. Then an eight mile deep cloudburst suddenly appeared on the radar behind its puny first line of showers. Bang! We were blasted with a downdraft of 40 knots plus (not sure how high it went as we were too busy handling the boat to look much at the wind instrument)and, although we already had two reefs in the main, we had out all the jib. It was a strong blow for a bit, but we managed to get two reefs in the jib: it was hard work and the boat was on her ear a while, but we came out unscathed. The lesson here is: when it's dark and there is some rain about, you better be ready for a nasty surprise. The skipper was at the helm, and as the crew came tumbling out of bunks and up into the cockpit, no doubt they were a bit apprehensive, but very glad that we were not caught with our pants down (sails up!) while on their watch!

This rain lasted about an hour and a half, and after the first blast, the winds in it were down to 15kts. Then, as usual,as the skies cleared we lost our wind. So now we are motor sailing along about 80nm from Lajes, and we expect to arrive at the anchorage there just before nightfall.

John and Nancy, with Bob and Dave

Kazoos and Cake

May 27 1200 GMT 3846 3846N 3640W Wind SSW 20kts Seas 8ft Sunny COG 75T SOG 8.5kts

Here we go sailing down a following current in the Gulf Stream, adding half a knot to our Speed over Ground (SOG). If this wind and current stay, we will, after all, make Flores tomorrow afternoon. The chances are, though, that something will change!

Yesterday we celebrated Bob's birthday with Kazoos and with Ghirardelli Brownie Cake baked by Nancy. We also loaned him some special birthday attire and as long as he does not get hold of the camera and delete them, the pics will appear here soon!

All is well, and we are enjoying this favourable wind shift and ocean current.

John and Nancy, with Bob and Dave

Sunday's Fiddling Soft Glide

May 26 1220 GMT 3816N 4005W Wind SW 13kts Sunny Seas 4ft Beam reach full main and jib at 6.5kts

Like the Phantom's dinghy we are gliding over the Atlantic stage, and we could be having a June day out on the Long Island Sound -except that we cannot see any land. Yesterday we hit a couple of bugs. And about time too: we had been bug-free for 13 sailing days!

First, the Autopilot went on strike. So we hand steered while we waited for Jay Fiddler-Kay, the maintenance guy, to show up. He fiddled with the wires to the drive's computer brain box, and nothing happened. He fiddled with the power on and off; he called in Jay Sparky-Kay with his volt meter and they fiddled with more switches on and off; and nothing happened. So they went down to the pub for a beer, and while they were away, JFK read the manual! And watched the Autopilot trying to start, and made a lucky guess: he went bravely amongst the buttons and pressed here and there to disengage from the autopilot the speed wheel (that sits down on the hull and measures the boat's speed through the water). Hey Presto!

Then the modem would not come online to send out these updates. More fiddling! No luck there, though: so no update yesterday. Sitting here typing this and hoping that the dear lovely little modem will work today. If you are reading this, it did.

And meantime the sailing continues to be smooth and quite fast, but we do expect to slow a bit as the wind lessens: so we will probably not make Lajes Harbour on Flores until Thursday.

And today is The Celebration for Bob's BIG birthday: Nancy has baked a Brownie Cake and we have some fun planned!

John and Nancy, with Bob and Dave

(no subject)

Sat Maqy 24 1105 GMT: 3712N 4610W Wind S 18kts; Sunny; Seas 5ft COG 75 7.8kts broad beam reach, under full Jib and Main

And for the non-sailors: those words '7.8kts broad beam reach' mean: a dream sail! The low pressure areas have cleared out of the way as forecast, and we have perfect conditions. The crew are showered. The boat has been cleaned too; and for dinner this evening we have more Wahoo. The Admiral is sleeping, and with wind and waves astern, the boat is quite stable. The decks are dry and so the main hatch is cracked to air out the boat.

After these first wonderful one and a half legs of our crossing, surely on the third and final leg up to Falmouth we will encounter some less benign weather. But meanwhile, we are enjoying the day and living in this moment: and thoughts of things to come are focused on, for example, finding 'sardinhas assada' (sp?) for lunch in the Azores.

John and Nancy, with Bob and Dave

Humpback Shark?

Fri May 23 17.21 GMT 14.21 Ship's Time 3638N 4844W Wind S 16 COG 080 7.5kts Sunny

Even casual readers will recall (well, it was written only this very morning!) that the water is cool - 66F. And so it is doubtful there will be anyone answering the swim call - not at least among Dave, Bob and me. Might Nancy? No way! Even though she was belowdecks just now when Dave, Bob and I spotted a shark fin just eight feet off our port side! Not that a shark sighting would be a problem for Nancy: it's just that the water is too cold. Right? Anyhow, in hundreds of days at sea, that was a first for us. If the shark had been just a dozen yards further away, then we would not have seen the fin amongst the waves.

Why is an offshore passage like a camel? It has a hump. Halfway is 'Hump Day' and in an hour's time we will be at our declared halfway point of 48 degrees 35 minutes West of Greenwich, London (sorry Froggies, but London IS the centre of the world!). Hump Day is a tradition with us, brought aboard 'Larking About' by John Parker: and so we will have a single drink aboard this otherwise dry offshore boat this afternoon, and toast 'Adventuress', 'Larking About', John Parker, and all the brave ocean swimmers among us who have scoffed at the notion of sharks!

John and Nancy, with Bob and Dave

Humpback Shark?

Fri May 23 17.21 GMT 14.21 Ship's Time 3638N 4844W Wind S 16 COG 080 7.5kts Sunny

Even casual readers will recall (well, it was written only this very morning!) that the water is cool - 66F. And so it is doubtful there will be anyone answering the swim call - not at least among Dave, Bob and me. Might Nancy? No way! Even though she was belowdecks just now when Dave, Bob and I spotted a shark fin just eight feet off our port side! Not that a shark sighting would be a problem for Nancy: it's just that the water is too cold. Right? Anyhow, in hundreds of days at sea, that was a first for us. If the shark had been just a dozen yards further away, then we would not have seen the fin amongst the waves.

Why is an offshore passage like a camel? It has a hump. Halfway is 'Hump Day' and in an hour's time we will be at our declared halfway point of 48 degrees 35 minutes West of Greenwich, London (sorry Froggies, but London IS the centre of the world!). Hump Day is a tradition with us, brought aboard 'Larking About' by John Parker: and so we will have a single drink aboard this otherwise dry offshore boat this afternoon, and toast 'Adventuress', 'Larking About', John Parker, and all the brave ocean swimmers among us who have scoffed at the notion of sharks!

John and Nancy, with Bob and Dave

Swim anyone?

Fri May 23 1025 GMT Winds SSW 16 Sunny Seas 3ft COG 080 7.2kts Full Jib and Main Wind just aft the beam

Here we are Mid Atlantic with Newfoundland about 607nm to port. At 1800 GMT we will be half way to the Azores, some 900nm away. We are looking at a dream forecast of south winds for the next four days, and if that happens then we will be in Flores drinking Vinho Verde by middle of next week.

The boat is going well and the crew are fit, well fed and, by dinner tonight, will be freshly showered and shaved. Will Nancy be ready to heave-to this afternoon and go for a celebration half-way swim? Hmmm...with the ocean at 66F I somehow doubt it.

John and Nancy, with Bob and Dave

Hope, Reality, Beauty and Wahwhatsit

1050 Bermuda Time May 21 3641N 5446W Wind S 15kts COG 95 SOG 7.5kts Seas 3ft Cloudy/Rain

In hopes of a record 24 hours I went to bed at 0200 after we had covered 64nm in 8 hours, under reefed sails. Next thing I knew it was 5.45am and I awoke to the reefs being unfurled as we were caught in the middle of a large rainstorm that stole our wind. Oh well, that's sailing.

We are well positioned to enjoy mainly southerly winds for quite a few days. We just connected via SSB with Chris Parker our offshore weather man (who is onshore in Florida) and he confirmed what our weather charts, downloaded also via SSB, are forecasting. Our little ship is sailing beautifully and, even though only one of us is matching her grace and looks, we other three chaps are having a darn good sail! Who needs a razor out here, anyway?

Dave is busy right now in the galley making a Wahoo concoction out of the extra fish cooked last night; so we will relish a Hornbach Wahwhatsit Salad for lunch.

We are a third of the way over to the Azores, and will have a superb trip if the last two thirds are similar.

John and Nancy, with Dave and Bob

"No Whining...

...only Larking About" says the sign hanging in the galley. So we will not complain about the lack of useful wind: the fact is, we still made about 85nm Easting in the last 24h, and have only just now given up trying to sail, and turned on the motor.

Thurs May 22 0630 Berm Time, 0930 GMT, 36010N 5258W Wind W 8kts Seas 2ft Sunny

For some reason the skipper has been stingy with spending diesel: maybe he is miserly, or just hates the thought of being a stink-potter. Anyway, we have a lovely morning for a motor boat ride, and the Offwatch are still sound asleep despite the noise of the engine. And we do have a lot of fuel left: so far we have used 7 gallons out of 190 total: might use another 7 today, though. We would try the gennaker sail, but experience (confirmed just two days ago) tells us that it will not work in light airs with any sort of swell running: the top of the mast - about 59ft 8in. above the water - moves some eight feet side to side in the swell we have, and that is enough to mess up the set of the sail.

All on Adventuress is shipshape, and the crew are in good form. Bob has been his usual happy self, and his old "Newfie" jokes are new at least to Dave!

John and Nancy, with Bob and Dave

Rogues to Gentlemen

Mon May 19 16.45 GMT 13.45 Berm 3452N 5948W Winds SSW 14. Seas 6ft Mainly sunny Quite cool Course 060T @ 7.2kts

If gentlemen never sail to weather, then since we left The Virgins we have been rogues, rascals and scallywags. But now, behold! For the first time we are sailing downwind! And 'tis a lovely feeling: the boat glides over, rather than slices through, the water; and with her soft rocking it is near impossible to stay awake! Unlike this morning, when we were wallowing around in light winds but still with a jostling sea state: not pretty with the sails slatting and the rigging banging; but it lasted only about 6 hours before the wind backed from N to W to SW. At 1100 when the wind freshened and moved some 30 degrees, we jibed from a course of NNW over to ENE.

The forecast now is excellent: we are supposed to keep these winds for a while as we sail at 060T up to 36N - should be there tomorrow afternoon. Then as the low which is about 600nm N East of us moves NE we should see South winds for several days: which means a beam reach on starboard tack, in warmer winds.

The sightings are few: a 200ft motoryacht came past us last night, and a freighter passed us 10 miles to the North, both bound for Gibraltar. In spite of the slowdown this morning waiting for the wind change, the first 48 hrs saw us cover 302nm. Our secret guesses as to when we will reach Flores are written and sealed in a Ziploc, and the the boat and crew are all happy.

Gentle Lady Nancy, with Gents John, Bob and Dave.

Tues May 20 10.30 Berm Time 3545N 5730W Wind W 6kts Seas 3ft Sunny and motoring to charge batteries and find useful wind (we hope).
Had good sailing until 8am then wind died. We just tried the Gennaker sail, but combination of waves and not enough wind would not allow it to set. So we are put-putting and charging batteries.

Speedy Start

Sunday May 18 12.40 UTC: Ship' time (Bermuda)09.40 3250N 62.15W winds N 15 Partly Sunny 7+kts COG 065T

The half dozen boats that left yesterday morning before our departure at 13.30 are all now astern! After 5 hours we caught up with the first one - a Swiss flagged Amel 53 - at 18.05 and three hours later his light was barely visible astern. Adventuress is a speedster and we continue to be surprised how well she sails in 10 to 12 kts of breeze. During the night we passed four other boats - variety unknown. Now we have a bit more wind, and so far we certainly timed our departure just right. Looks like we will see the winds continue to veer N to NW to WNW and on those we will head up some more to reach 36 or 37 degrees N. Then the forecast is for a switch to SW. No big winds are in the forecast, and we may be able to fly our big "balloon" gennaker if the seas are not too bumpy to upset the sail.

The SSB is working well and we just downloaded wx "grib" files for tomorrow and Tuesday: we picked up a strong signal to a shoreside station 'VE1YZ' 953nm north of us in St Margaret's Bay Nova Scotia.

Nancy made us an outstanding Lanco Meat Loaf for dinner on Friday our last night in port; so we devoured meatloaf sandwiches for lunch yesterday: and for dinner the Wahoo came with a glaze of apricot mayonnaise butter with sauteed garlic shallots and onion. Two feasts in one day out on the ocean! Tonight will be the traditional first night Coq au Vin, which got bumped out by the Wahoo.

We are not yet fishing - not much room in the freezer with all that Wahoo in it.

Best from four happy sailors: Nancy and John with Bob and Dave

Waters New

Sat May 17 1425 3222N 6433W Light winds ENE Seas 4 feet slow rollers Motorsailing at 6kts Sunny

After a few days' rest and some fun in Bermuda, off we go to the Azores, which are not called the AAAZOORES but are known at least by the locals as The Asoarees, with a short "A" and a pronounced third syllable. I know because Carlos Rego, the fruit and veg man who helped us with the final provisioning at the little St George's grocery store, he comes from Sao Miguel.

These are new waters for us: about 1,900nm to Horta, and we are looking at lightish winds today but hope to catch up with some North Westerlies tomorrow, on which we will try to sail ENE a little higher than the rhumb line. All is in good shape on Adventuress, including the crew. We have about 22 pounds of cleaned Wahoo in the freezer, about half of which we purchased from the fishermen Fred and Wesley whose dock is 50 feet in front of ours on the Town Docks: and the other half we were given, a happy if quite long story. So tonight we will eat the two pounds which we did not freeze, possibly with an Apricot and Lemon sauce? - depends on the whim of the cook.

From these updates our friend and sailor John Parker is recording our positions on Google Earth; and we are also sending positions via "Spot".

We fired up the Satphone this morning and made a test call to our weather man Chris Parker: that worked well and so if we cannot get through to him or to weather charts on our SSB radio, we can get a forecast from him on the Satphone.

Best to all, John and Nancy, with Bob and Dave

Pics from Bermuda.

Crew picture taken by Donna minutes prior to departure from St. Thomas

(Bob Nelson, Dave Hornbach, Nancy and John Knight)

Donna, her father, Don, and friend Marion arrived early to send us off!

 

In Bermuda tied up to Town Dock, St. Georges!

 

Another view of our berth!

 

The famous White Horse Inn is located 93 feet from the bow.

 

 

Picture of our navigation station and galley.

 

Port side of our salon with net bags filled with provisions.

 

 

The ARC transatlantic rally left the day after we arrived.  Thirty five yachts left St. Georges

through Current Cut under sail.

 

St Georges is charming

 

Lovely cobblestone streets.

 

Beautiful flowers.

 

and more flowers.

 

We purchased super fresh wahoo for dinner this evening!

 

 

 

 

Relaxing in Bermuda

10.48am Wed May 14 3222.69N 6440.26W

Here we sit at anchor in St George's harbour and it is still just as lovely as three years ago. We reached Spit Buoy at ten to six, where we waited for a Cruise ship to clear the channel. Then with Bermuda Radio's blessing we went to the Customs dock at Ordnance Island. By 7pm we were cleared in, anchored and toasting our luck at having enjoyed the best weather I have ever seen on this "Milk Run" up to Bermuda. This morning, sober as judges and almost as ponderous, we are enjoying the spectacle of 34 boats getting ready to leave for the Azores on the ARC Transatlantic Cruising Rally. They left the Virgins three days ahead of us, and motored most of the way up here, poor souls.

Some stats: since topping off our tanks in St Thomas, in seven days we have used a quarter of our 250 gallons of water, with showers every other day: so a topped up full tank will get us to the Azores with plenty to spare. We covered 927nm in 5 days 6 hours and 40 minutes, for an average of 7.31kts. We motored for the last 17 hours and 40 minutes at an average of about 7 kts. We ran the engine to charge the batteries for 4.5 hours - the solar panels provided about 80% of our electricity. We used only about 22 gallons of diesel. We stood 47 one-man watches, we had no man overboard (BFOB) and we had no accident or injury.

The boat sailed impressively, and we had just one breakdown: at 11pm on Saturday night the wind vane instrument stopped working; but that was simply fixed before we arrived: while motoring yesterday afternoon we found a loose wire behind the instrument in the binnacle. And when we went to pick up the anchor this morning, the windlass did not work: but the down button did, so we found our spare new switch, and twenty minutes later we had it installed and working. Love those easy fixes!

Dave tells me the rhumb line to Falmouth is now 2813nm at 065 degrees, but we of course will not sail in a straight line!

1710pm at dock. And we have the finest berth in the whole of Bermuda! We had called Sandra at Bermuda Yacht Services a couple of weeks ago to tell her we were coming; and after the ARC fleet cleared out, she put us on the town dock right next to the little bridge, across from the town square and the dunking chair - which was in full dunking mode just as we pulled in! Crystal's horsedrawn carriage with a pair of shire horses from Lancaster Pennsylvania are our shoreside neighbours; and possibly best of all, the White Horse pub is approx 93 feet from our bow! Yes Hayden and Radeen, this time we have the front row seat on the Customs Dock.

More later from Admiral Nancy, no doubt with with some pics.

John and Nancy, with Bob and Dave

(no subject)

Tuesday 1005 May 13 3139N 6526W Wind maybe 3kts Motoring 7.0kts at 2700rpm Sunny

In hopes of dinner the fishing line is out. We have all day to catch just one Mahi Mahi, so that should be a piece of cake, right? The tackle went out at 9am after Bosun Horntoot tied on the lure and then Admiral Nancy, after needing a bit of prompting, sang her irreristible "Here Fishy Fishy". Thus far we have caught just weed, but Lord Nelson is sure he saw something investigating our lovely lure: perhaps a Flying Mirage Fish?

We think we will arrive about 6pm, too late to clear customs today. So with Radio Bermuda's permission we will proceed to anchor in Powder Hole, put up the yellow Q flag; and then in the morning weigh anchor and go onto the Customs' Dock to clear in.

Dave has kept the cockpit clean and Bob has done likewise in the cabin; Nancy is in charge of the heads; and JFK does the cooking. Good food in a clean boat is a great recipe for good morale. And so when we arrive in port, all that remains is to put away the lee cloths, and wash the salt off the decks and rigging. This has been a salty passage, as we were on the wind and against the waves. Much blue water found its way onboard: but happily very little got past our cockpit enclosure and onto us, and hardly any drops made it down below.

We have had an unusual passage: the norm for this trip might be 400nm of sailing if you are lucky, and 500nm of motoring through the Doldrums. We happily sailed quite fast for four days and 13 hours, logging 786nm. The last 30 miles we sailed along at a pedestrian 6 knots in a light breeze: boy does this IP420 sail well in lighter airs! Of course it helped that the seas were relatively calm. Only at midnight, exactly as forecast, did we run out of wind and turn on the motor. So we will be in Bermuda about 6 o'clock, and the weather forecast is for a beautiful evening; so after we have dropped the hook, and secured our little ship, it will turn ...yes, you guessed it, Dark 'n' Stormy.

John and Nancy, with Dave and Bob

Bermuda's Up Ahead...Somewhere and Quite Soon.

Sun May 11 1025 2520N 6516W Wind +/-20kts ENE Seas 6 feet Sunny Sailing at 7kts under full jib staysail and single reef main COG 006T

We expect stuff to happen out here and so:
Our wind speed of +/-20kts is only an educated estimate because our little wind sensor - anemometer - at the top of the mast has gone on strike. Can't blame her really: she has been bounced around up there for almost three days: and something tells me (geometry, perhaps?) that a lurch of say a foot in the cabin is ten feet up there. And these lurches are refusing to go on strike.

We have been blown a bit to the left so we are missing Bermuda by about 40nm. We might still find it: if the wind shifts as forecast, clocking from E to SE to S and dropping down to 5 to 10kts; if the satellites stay up and working so our GPS units will tell us where we are (no Dad, we do not carry a sextant); and if we don't decide to go straight to the Azores. We will let you know.

All is well otherwise. We won't have a better three days' sailing than these last three - though it would be more comfortable if we were downwind and down wave.

ETA Bermuda Tuesday afternoon/eve and then will be quite Dark and fairly Stormy conditions aboard Adventuress.

John and Nancy, with Dave and Bob

Postscript: Same Day late afternoon: wind is clocking just right, and dropping: so we have almost all sail up and making a beeline for St George's at 7.5kts as the seas are calming. Dinner tonight will be Salmon with Shrimp in an Alfredo Vodka sauce - the Vodka will be fresh, but not the fish: we have been sailing too fast to catch fish!

Crew Perspective

Nancy's at the helm and John is busy reading "The Boys in the Boat" on my Kindle, so I thought I would add a little crew color (colour)commentary for the blog. It is so great to be sailing with them aboard Adventuress again, and Bob is a fantastic crewmate and he completes what very well may be the perfect voyage. Other than running the engine to charge the batteries, we have been sailing between 7 and 8+ knots since we left the islands. I had heard so many stories of motoring north to Bermuda that this has been a dream passage thus far. This will be my first time ever to Bermuda and I do have some trepidation that John may have one of his prank's in store for me in way of initiation. If the rest of the voyage continues as it has started it will be a memory that I will long cherish. Thank you both for allowing me to share this with you. -- Dave
'THE VOYAGE' has commenced in memorable fashion even though we have not quite mastered the Masters techniques. The good ship Adventuress is a marvelous vessel and is delivering us quickly to our initial destination of Bermuda. I am enjoying the crew mates and their individual senses of humour. Laughter is always present and makes it so very enjoyable to be aboard. I am learning much from Dave who has great technical knowledge and trying still to keep up with John. Nancy graciously shares her knowledge and keeps us very organized. I can't wait to see Bermuda again and looking forward to the next leg of our journey and exploring the Azores with my good friends, Admiral Nancy, Captain John and 1st Mate Dave. --Bob

(Editor's note: see what the threat of starvation does for the crew's writings?)

Update from a Speck on the Ocean

950am Sat May 10 2336N 6556W wind 22kts NE Sunny Still under triple reef Jib Staysail Triple reef Main 7.1ktsCOG 356T

Breakfast is a bit more challenging: making coffee is hazardous; pouring cereal into a bowl not quite so simple as it sounds. The boat is leaning at an angle between 12 to 15 degrees, and it jogs you also fore and aft. It is not yet like the proverbial 'washing machine' but it is still a challenge to get from A to B and do anything that needs two hands.

At this point, two days in, we are all adept at keeping watch and handling the sails; and the only breakage so far on the boat was a minor irritation: a wimpy plastic hinge on a toilet seat broke apart (culprit unnamed!) which was promptly switched out with the forward head (which we do not use offshore because up in the bow it is more like a crazy fun-fair ride than a bathroom). But one does have to ask: why on a toilet seat sold for a boat would they put rinky dinky hinges designed for Minnie Mouse? (Hayden, please feel free to forward to Island Packet and to Raritan!)

Progress is excellent: we have been blown West of the rhumb line but only by about 24nm; so considering that we have in 47 hours now covered 330nm that is hardly far off the line. We all had showers last evening, and regular readers know how superb such a simple pleasure becomes on a salty boat offshore. Adventuress has also taken several dousings of rain but apparently does not share our joy because she promptly showers herself all over with scores of gallons of seawater.

John and Nancy, with Bob and Dave

Freight Train to Bermuda

0920 Fri May 9 2054N 6531W wind NE 24kts Seas 8ft Sunny. Sailing under triple reef jib, staysail, triple reef main at 7+kts

When sailing North from the Virgins it seems that the wind is often stronger and more Northerly than forecast. Yesterday we stowed the dinghy on deck, checked off the last few things on the Offshore Prep List, and left the breathtaking beauty of Culebrita at 11.05. We are having a fine romp with good speed from heavily reefed sails, and are just a few miles west of the straight rhumb line to St George's cut. It is quite a ride especially at night with the waves splashing over the bow and the loud swish of the stern wave as it fills in our wake. Nancy says it is like riding a freight train; which makes one wonder when and for how long was she a Hobo?

So we are finding our sea legs quickly. We did get some sleep after our traditional first night Coq au Vin for dinner: tasted pretty good even though we had with it only water to drink.

We should be in Bermuda late Tuesday; although one never knows...This first day we will cover 175nm and that is an average of 7.3kts - pretty good going for our little ship. We are all well and Adventuress is loving her new autopilot.

John and Nancy, with Dave and Bob

The Beauty of a Flexible Timetable

Culebrita, Spanish Virgin Islands 21.50 May 7. At anchor

The list for offshore prep is almost complete (we have only to drop the dinghy from the davits, and store it and the motor on deck) and we have a favorable wx forecast for the next five to six days, boding a fine sail to Bermuda. So we may leave tomorrow morning. But then again, we may not, because we are happily not on a timetable dictated by the calendar; but rather, we will leave when we are ready and when we are rested. In fact, we may not leave tomorrow simply because the snorkelling in Louis Pena is superb: so we may just travel 5 nm to Louis Pena and explore the reefs.

Dinner tonight was lobster tails, steamed and then finished in hot butter and garlic: boy were they good, and thank you, Donna for bringing us that lovely treat!

We will now be out of range of telephone and internet, but will post here to the blog most days on our trip. We have a very strong crew, and a carefully prepared yacht, and yet: we still expect the unexpected. We do not expect, however, to meet any challenge that we cannot overcome with our combination of experience, preparation and ingenuity.

Best warm wished to all our readers, and especially to John and Bev Parker: as you follow our adventure, know that you are in our thoughts and prayers.

John and Nancy, with Bob Nelson and Dave Hornbach

A Little Test from our SSB Radio

18.19N 64.52W Berthed at Oasis Cove Marina, St Thomas: Monday, May 5, 2014

Before a passage we test out a lot of stuff to ensure it is working at least when we start: after that, it may stop working - the ocean is not friendly to electronics on a yacht. (As long as the crew keeps working, then the skipper should be thankful!) So Hayden just reminded me to test our track for posting to this blog from our long-range SSB radio. Good idea, Hayden!

Unlike the mega motor yachts heading over to Europe at this time of year, our rhumb line to Falmouth 3,413 nautical miles away will not be the route we will take: instead we will sail 840nm due North to Bermuda; this sail is typically in a pretty straight line as we will have beam trade winds from the East to start, and then probably little wind as we get into the Bermuda High area also called 'The Doldrums'. From Bermuda, it will depend on the weather, but we will almost certainly not sail the straight line to the Azores, but will first head NNE for a few hundred miles, until we get about level with the Delaware, before turning starboard and due East: this leg will be about 1900nm. Our final leg to Falmouth will be about 1250nm, again not in a straight line. So we expect to log about 4,000nm in total.

Our little ship is up to her ears in food! We have provisioned all the way to the Azores, as food supplies can be spotty in Bermuda. To give you an idea: we have 24 frozen dinners in the reefer; and lots of starch, breakfast cereal and snacks. We have 24 litre boxes of long life milk, and will load up more potatoes and apples this week before we leave.

We carry 250 gallons of fresh water; it is, regrettably, all in just one tank. So in case we were to spring a leak in that tank and lose it, we carry 25 gallons of water in one gallon jugs, stashed in the hold.

We expect to leave here on Thursday am, as it looks like we will then have at least a couple of days of trade winds.

John and Nancy, with Dave; waiting for Bob's arrival this Monday eve.

Getting Ready for Transatlantic

We are back at St Thomas after spending three weeks in Lancaster visiting family and friends and saying our goodbyes before we depart on our voyage to England.  It was great fun being home to watch the trees bud and spend a special Easter at my sister and brother-in-law’s home. 

Adventuress was happy in her slip at Oasis Cove Marina here in St Thomas, a beautiful new marina owned by Jonathan and Paul Sabers.  Here’s a picture of Adventuress secure in her slip:

 And a picture of Jonathan, a great guy, who has become a friend of ours.  Thanks Jon, for accommodating us and providing such a beautiful and safe environment to keep our boat.

 

While we were home we shipped many items to our good friend, Donna Liska.  Here she is after delivering 7 boxes to our marina.  And thank you dear Donna for being such a great friend and helping us while we were in St Thomas!

 

Dave Hornbach came early to help us with a few projects.  Here’s John and Dave working on installing a new replacement ram drive for the autopilot.

 We replaced the brushes on the old one in December, and the autopilot worked perfectly all winter. But right before we returned to Lancaster, we had a “blip” so we decided to purchase a new hydraulic ram.  Thanks Dave for your capable help.  If he wasn’t here I would be in the hole!

 

 

 

 

 

Bob Nelson, our second crew man, arrives in two days, on Monday!  Then the real excitement begins!  We will prepare the boat for sailing offshore on our next adventure……the voyage to England via Bermuda and the Azores! 

Our very best,

Nancy, John and Dave

May 3, 2014, Oasis Cove Marina